Scoop du Jour: If You Get It And Use It

on: September 16, 2016

-by Scoop

September 16, 2016 — Having been in this industry for several decades I can recall most of the big mistakes I have made but it was not until recently that I learned of one yuuge booboo this old dog repeatedly, yet unknowingly, made that must have cost me tons of money in lost selling/closing opportunities. Though I was always in the top % of ‘producers’ now that I have seen the error of my ways I can only fathom how much more I would have earned in commissions, spiffs and bonuses if I had accepted the following simple truth.

So Here’s The Scoop: Though I ultimately worked my way up through the various sales/marketing management positions to a C-Level gig in ‘the biz’, at my core I always have been and will forever remain a proud peddler and closer. I love selling/closing and especially vacation villas, beautiful homes that can be used all around the world in the Land of Time.

That said, the following bit of advice is for anyone and everyone working those magical little round tables anywhere in our global industry who wants to increase their net sales and increase their income beginning this very day.

And you sales managers, PD’s and/or DOS, etc. reading this ought to share the following with your teams, too, because the more sales your staff generates, well, you know, the more moo-la you can stuff into that mattress or conceal in an off-shore account you might have in (e.g.) Belize.

I can’t remember how many times over the years I heard various levels of sales and marketing management peeps as well as front end reps (liners), T/O’s (closers) or F/B’ers (front to backer) refer to ‘ups’ (sales guests) as a ‘mooch’ or ‘the mooch from hell’ and/or the sales guest they just ‘toured’ being the dreaded ‘professional mooch’.

To this day that flawed attitude likely permeates throughout most TS sales centers around the world. And it is the negative view point that the ‘tours’ (sales guests) are only attending the sales presentation for those ‘gifts’ (premiums) that has a direct influence on many sales reps/closers who often decide, consciously or otherwise, to under-perform during a given sales presentation resulting in yet another ‘no-sale’.

Sure, from a marketing perspective the gifts seal the deal and get the sales guests to finally agree to come to the presentation but what most sales reps don’t know or see is all the people who are approached by OPC’s and/or phone ‘hawkers’ just to get 1 person to listen to them, accept the offer (gifts) – and ultimately show up for the presentation.

I don’t have any exact data but, as an example, if a marketing person (street or phone) has to ‘hawk’ at 100 peeps passing by their street location (or over the phone) to get one sales guest in the door – that one ‘tour’ is incredibly special because unlike those other 99 peeps who were also approached but ‘ran for the hills’ the one who did not — now brace yourself Bubba — is – RECEPTIVE!

Now stop for a moment and think about the word RECEPTIVE as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “Willing to listen or accept ideas, suggestions, etc. Especially open and responsive…”

OMG! Nearly every sales guest we meet & greet is in that category! And yet, too many times reps/closers have a tendency to look down on many sales guests because they think their sole purpose of ‘visiting’ with the reps is merely to get them thar free (or discounted) ‘gifts’. Oh so wrong!

What most reps/closers inside the sales centers never see is the rude and negative attitudes of all those other 99 peeps who were approached on the street (or over the phone) who are flat-out pessimistic, mistrusting, doubtful, hesitant and often insecure, indecisive and miserable.

Instead of being RECEPTIVE, they are closed minded, unresponsive to stimuli and they are the ones, throughout much of their lives, who merely stand on the sidelines and just watch the parade of life and all manner of opportunities pass them by without so much as a mere thought.

Conversely, unlike those poor souls, the sales guests we see every day of the year have clearly demonstrated that they have an open mind, that they are amenable, somewhat friendly, flexible, inquisitive, responsive and often well disposed with a positive attitude, etc.

HELLO? Knock-Knock. Anyone home?

Imagine that: Nearly 100% of every sales guest who shows up at every sales center every day of the year falls into that category, which to my way of thinking makes nearly all of them some of the best prospects in the world that are delivered right to our office sales centers.

To put that another way and as proven by the original ‘hawker’, just about each and every sales guest we encounter has also demonstrated that they are ‘approachable’, that they will ‘listen’, that they are ‘risk’ takers, that the see ‘value’, that they can make a yes/no ‘decision’ and that they can be ‘sold’ and ‘closed’ today!

Does it get any better than that?

So gang the special word for today is that those darn ‘ups’ are not ‘tours’ but instead are RECEPTIVE sales guests and/or prospects. And if we eliminate the notion from our minds that most are merely ‘mooches’ and instead start believing the prospects are exactly what they have demonstrated themselves to be (RECEPTIVE) then each rep/closer and indeed our entire industry would net more sales and generate more revenue.

So from this moment forward remember that about each sales guest because their openness is why you are meeting them today and their receptivity is why, if you get it and use it you will sell and close more of ’em today, too!

Eric

I also know, as everyone does, some sales guests should never be invited in the first place and if those could be weeded out and not allowed in I believe sales, across the board, would increase a lot.

Some people just don’t like to vacation in style. Some people can’t afford to vacation regularly and some people could care less about the quality of their vacationing experience either.

Eliminate those people from the mix and just watch the numbers increase!

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